Macy’s employees exit the building at Valley Fair as police investigate a shooting incident in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
SAN JOSE – A shooting Friday night at Westfield Valley Fair sent three people to the hospital and hundreds of mall goers running for their lives, all on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
The incident happened around 5:40 p.m. on the second floor of the upscale mall, just outside of Macy’s, according to San Jose police Sgt. Jorge Garibay.
The victims – identified as a man, woman and 16-year-old girl – were taken to area hospitals with at least one gunshot wound each, he said, adding that their injuries were not life-threatening.
Garibay described the shooting as an “isolated incident.”
“This was not targeted at unsuspecting shoppers,” he told reporters gathered near the scene.
While the motive and circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation, Garibay said it appears to have stemmed from a dispute between the male victim and the suspect. The other victims – the woman and teen – were not involved in the initial altercation.
The suspect left the scene before officers arrived and remained at large Friday. No description was released.
Police asked the public to avoid the area while officers evacuated and cleared the mall.
Social media posts from mall goers captured the chaos inside Valley Fair after shots were fired, with some patrons taking shelter where they could and others rushing toward the exits.
In a post on X, Fiona Z said she was hiding in a storage room with her children.
“I can hear people screaming outside,” she said, adding in a follow-up post that “the gunshot sounded so close.”
Other posts included footage of officers running through an eerily empty mall with guns drawn.
Eduardo Barocio, 18, of Oakland, told this news organization he had just arrived at Valley Fair to do some Black Friday shopping when he heard what sounded like eight to 10 gunshots.
“At first, I didn’t think much of it,” Barocio said, but then everyone around him started to run.
“That’s when I realized it was real,” he said.
Barocio ran to a parking lot. He later saw two officers emerge from the mall with a man who appeared to have a chest wound.
“I just hope no one was injured too badly,” Barocio said.
Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People wait for employees, friends, and family to be escorted by police to exit the building while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave Valley Fair as police investigate a shooting incident in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave Valley Fair as police investigate a shooting incident in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Shoppers take shelter inside the Abercrombie & Fitch store at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose following a shooting Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Courtesy of X user @avgpearfarmer)
People leave while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave Valley Fair as police investigate a shooting incident in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People look for friends and family as they leave while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
People leave while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Shoppers take shelter inside the Abercrombie & Fitch store at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose following a shooting Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Courtesy of X user @avgpearfarmer)
People wait for employees, friends, and family to be escorted by police to exit the building while police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Leslie Santos, an employee at Macy’s, center right,
embraced a coworker after exiting the building at Valley Fair as police investigate a shooting incident in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
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Police investigate a shooting incident at Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
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